We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Melissa McGaughey a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Melissa, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear your thoughts about family businesses.
Both of my businesses I run with my husband, Sean. My children are familiar with the location of everything: how to log onto the computer, where to find chocolate, who to ask for help. While it all sounds romantic, there is another side. For Quail & Condor, Sean and I are very complimentary to each other: he loves getting projects done. That being making croissants, building shelves, purchasing equipment, etc. I enjoy building the business just as much as I love making bread. But there was no clear line of responsibility, we were just filling in the gaps to what needed to be executed. Once we got open, Sean was commanding the staff like a 3 Michelin kitchen, my kids would be on the floor with an iPad watching tv while I’m baking croissants in the evening multiple days of the week, and we couldn’t keep up with the house chores. I like the idea of my kids wanting to be involved with our work but I would rather see them do something else so I could experience it with them. No matter what they choose, Sean and I are behind them to make sure they get the fullest experience.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Sean and I met in Denver, Colorado on the opening team for a highly anticipated restaurant. Our love for growers, the craft of food service and the alchemy of culinary drew us together. Sean lead Michelin kitchens, I lead the best bakeries on the East & West coasts, resulting in the two of us slowly taking over the small town of Healdsburg in Sonoma California. We specialize in California cuisine: highlighting produce and dairy while using techniques we hold dear to our hearts. The product is not only the most cared-for aspect of our businesses, but the details and feeling of warmth is where we encourage our teams to use when tailoring each guest experience. The most unique part of the guest experience is that you should feel like you visited a neighbors house for lunch. There’s a familiarity that comes with each interaction: the greeting upon entry, the bites and sips, and the salutation as you leave. As for the food: well executed with advanced technique, but tastes like your family is cooking for you.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I had to unlearn that I can do this alone. I learned quickly that I am not in control of everything and that anything I do affects the business greatly. I tell people all the time now that you should never do this alone. Having a life partner, business partner, a therapist, your parents as a sounding board.. you will need support to bounce ideas off of and to clear your head. Anything can happen and you must be able to bounce back. There is no time to dwell on anything, but to reflect, learn and move forward. If you’re managing a team they will recognize you for how you get back up. You will not always have your s**t together.
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Employee retention scared me for the longest time. When someone quit, I used to blame myself. You have to remember where you most enjoyed working and why? What were the least desirable parts of that job and how did you combat that? I know that in the bakery specifically I have to create career positions to retain our management positions. Production must be able to afford staff members changing, because those tasks are very trainable. But putting managers in place with your trust to make the program their own, having meetings with them regularly to learn about their interests within your company and fostering that. Of course benefits are huge, they are adults and they need PTO and healthcare. Remind them that they are valued.
Contact Info:
- Website: quailandcondor.com
- Instagram: @quailandcondor
Image Credits
Emma K Morris